Junk Mail

Above is a picture of just some of the catalogs I am starting to peruse. As we get our seed and plant orders together this time of year, one of my favorite activities is going thru the "eye candy" in these catalogs. I have to say though that aside from the "desireable" catalogs that I utilize, I receive a large portion of junk mail as it seems I'm on many mailing lists. It is amazing how quickly we fill up our paper recyling bins here with junk mail that is frequently not even opened (and was never solicited in the first place....). Below are some junk mail facts that I thought were very interesting. These were researched from http://www.donotmail.org/ and http://www.41pounds.org/. I would encourage you to view these sites and others like them as their intent is to wage the war against junk mail and help preserve the environment. Many non-profit organizations (like 41pounds.org and Green Dimes) offer the service of trying to minimize your junk mail. Consider addressing this issue personally and perhaps seek assistance as needed. The facts below are sobering....
*105 billion pieces of junk mail are sent each year (6.5 million tons of paper)
*Each household receives an average of 850 pieces of junk mail each year
*1/3 of all mail delivered is junk mail
*44% of junk mail goes in to landfills unopened
*By 2010, 50% of the solid mass in landfills will be paper products, including junk mail
*Annual junk mail requires 100 million trees for paper production
*The manufacture of junk mail releases more greenhouse gas emissions annually than 9,372,000 average passenger cars emit

Check out the http://www.donotmail.org/ site to see some other emission equivalents as they relate to junk mail production. Granted, sometimes this type of mail has value but what's interesting is that a response rate of less than .25% (one quarter of one percent) is acceptable for these bulk mailings! Recycling is obviously warranted for these items but the actual production, mailing and even recycling process all have enviromental impacts as well. Ironically, some of the mail that Rotary Gardens sends out may fall in to the category of "junk" for some people but we do our best to target our mailings appropriately. Stewardship of our earth has so many avenues but it seems that junk mail is an obvious concern that has enormous environmental implications....